Adjustable support.



No. 858,821. PATENTED JULY 2, 1907.

W. B. OLIVER.

ADJUSTABLE SUPPORT. APPLICATION FILED BEPT.13,1906.

FIG. I. 51

INVENTOR: W/lL/fl/V 5.0104

fnnirnn STATES PATENT OFFICE,

WILLIAM OLIVE ,'OF SHARON HILL, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR; TO OLlVER MANUFAC- TUBING COMPANY, OF PHILADELPHIA; PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENN? SYLVANIA.

. To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that L Wrtnmm B. Omvsn, of Sharon Hill, in the county of Delaware and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Adjustable Supports, whereof the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings. 1 A

My invention relates to an elongated support comprising a standard pivotally mounted upon a base, and having spring-actuated balancing mechanism whereby the support, as a whole, may be automatically retained at any inclination within the range of its pivotal movement; such support having, moreover, the. capacity of maintaining an article carried thereby, or attached thereto, in predetermined relation tothe vertical. A

As this class of supports is very largely employed for telephone instruments, I have shown and described the same as adaptod to such use, there being moreover certain special features of improvement which relate directly to this specific embodiment as distinguished from the broader applications of my invention.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1, represents a side elevation of a support comprising at its upper portion a telephone switch box, with receiver hook and transmitter. Fig. II, is a partial vertical section I through the standard, showing certain details of the rigidly secured together by means of rivets or other fasspring-actuated balancing elements. Fig. III, is a partial sectional view on a plane at right angles to that shown in Fig. I, on the line III, III, looking in the direction of the arrows. Figs. IV, V, and VI, are transwhich the spring actuated balancing mechanism operatively engages. Fig. VIII, is a view of the shoe which is.interposed between the same and the lower end of the standard. Fig. IX, is a view in perspective of the 1ower end of the standard. Fig. X, is a transverse sectional view through the upper portion of the telephone instrument, on the line X, X. Fig. X1, is a detail view of one of the trunnion shaped nuts whichconstitute the journals of the link comprised in the balancing mechanism.

The base 1, may be of any desired configuration, being preferably hollow to permit-the passage of the tele? phone circuit wires 2, and is secured in this instance to a horizontal surface by means of screws 3; A. ver- 'tical post 4, rises centrally from the upper portion of the base and receives in pivotal relation the sleeve 5, to which a pair of cam pieces 6, 6, are secured. Said cam pieces are separated by distance bushings 7,8, and

tenings 9. Laterally projecting flanges 1 0, 10, are formed along the periphery of each oi'the engaging surfaces of thecam pieces 6, 6. 'In rear of the engaging I Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 13, 1906-. Serial No. 834,396.

ADJUSTABLE SUPPOR'IL' Patented m 2, 1907. V

surface, and between it and the sleeve 5, circular openings 11, are formed in the cam pieces to afford bearings for a trunnion nut 12, (see Fig. I), whose general construction is shown in Fig. XI. Said trunnion nut 12, is perforated centrally of its length in a direction perpendicular to its axis as shown at 13, and the opening is threaded so as to engage 'with the correspondingly threaded lower end of the bent link 16, shown in Fig.

II, and in dotted lines in Fig, I. The construction I of said link and its relation to the other parts will be described later on.

Sliding freely upon the cam pieces 6, is a shoe l8,

havingdownwardly depending and inwardly project ing flanges 19, on each side, adapted to engage be- ,neath the flanges 10, 10, upon the cain pieces, a fiber washer (see Fig. 111), being inserted within the recess on the under side of the shoe, so as to receive the wear and to facilitate renewal when necessary. Said shoe has the general periphery of its upper and lower surfaces curved, as indicated in Fig. VIII, in general conformity with the chrved outline of the cam sur-, faces. A central hole 20, is formed in the shoe,

through which the link 16, above referred to, passes.

"lug 27, .and a second lug 28, the lower end of which is turned inwardly toward the center of the standard.

-Between said lugs is an elongated slot 23, and upon each side of said slot a shallow wedge-shaped lug 29, is formed. ,The lug 27, extends down through the recess 2]., in the rear end of the shoe, and the lug 28, engages, by means of its inwardly projecting lower end, in the recess 22, at the other end of the shoe.

The wedge-shaped lugs 29, on the bottomof the standard, bear upon the upper surface of the shoe at or near its central portion, so as to permit a slight tilting or rocking of the standard as a whole with relation to the shoe. The arm 26, at the upper end of the standard, carries a socket 33, which may be of any desired form, but which in this instance, is shown as 1 which' extends down through the standard 25, and,

emerging at the bottom thereof through the slot 23, f

I campieces 6: 10'

Immediately adjacent to the lower end of the standard 25, and within the cap-24, is a fixed washer or disk 37, having a central opening 38, which permits the free passage of the link at that region. At a point somewhat'higher up in the standard and indicated by the section lines of Fig. V, a second transvprse washer 39, is rigidly secured across the tubular interior of the standard, said washer having an elongated central opening 40, which permits the passage of the link and affords a certain amount of play therefor in a direction coincident with the plane of movement of the standard.

Near the upper end of the standard a third washer 41, having a still more elongated opening 42, is freely mounted within the tubular interior, so as to be capable of moving longitudinally with relation to the standard '25. A coiled spring 44, is mounted between and abuts against the washers 39, and 41, in such relation thereto as to be capable of compression by longitudinal movement of the washer 41, in a downward direction within thettube. The inovement of the washer-41, is effected bymeans of an elongated sleeve 45, whose lower end bears upon said washer. Said sleeve slides freely upon the upper portion of the link 16, and is longitudinally adjustable thereon, by means of a thumb nut 48, which engages with the threaded upper extremity of the link A6,, (see Fig. II.) This longitudinal adjustment of the ,;.s' le eve permits the proper tension to be exerted upon thespring so as to compensate for the weight to be car- .ried by the support. 1 ,tjig lp so far as relates to the support proper, and irresp'etive of the particular object carried thereby, the

- features just described comprise the essentials of my invention and the" operation thereof is as follo\vs:--

. :Whn the standard 25 is swung downwards from its nor-. mal vertical position indicated by the dotted lines,

i the standard 25, will be compelled to move longitudiv the socket 33, in a constant relation to'the vertical.

nally with relation to the link in accordance withthe' radial distance of the cam surface from the center of oscillation at the point 12. This relation will maintain At the same time, the fixed washer at 39,-and the movable washer 4l, wl1'ich last mentioned washer is in fixed relation to the link itself), will cause compression of the spring- '44, so as toafford a constantly increasing resistance to the tilting movement. By properly-proportioning the spring, itscompression maybe made to exactly cqmpens'ate the gravitative effect dueto the different positions of the-support andweight barriedthereby. Hence the socket 33,. or any object mounted therein may be maintained in a predetermined relation to the vertical and the standard as a who? will be retained against the action of gravity in any position within the range of its pivotal movement. a

Referring now to the telephonic device which is here shown as mounted in the support 33, said device comprises a switch box or stem 34, and an ordinary receiver hook 50, (the receiver itself not being shown), andnlso carries within the switch box 34, the usual switch devices common in telephone instruments, which cooperatewith the receiver hook. The transmitter casing 51, is pivoted upon a horizontal axis at 52, to a short vertical sleeve 53, which is rotatively supported upon a central hollow post 54, (see Fig. X), a screw stud 55, being provided to engage with the stop 56, on the exterior of the post 54, so as to prevent a complete rotation of the transmitter upon said post. The wires pass down as indicated by the dotted lines through said hollow post and the circuit is established through the instrument as above indicated.

Having thus described the mechanical structure and operation of the parts, I willnow, point out certain advantageous features which, in addition to more obvious ones, are the notable results of the device.

The shoe 18, which, in the instance shown is interposed between the cam surface and the standard of the support, slides upon the cam surface with a friction which varies substantially in accordance with the weight of the support and object carried thereby, since the longitudinal moving element of the support (which in this instance is the standard 25,) directly sustains the weight and also directly bears upon the shoe 1 8, with-a thrust corresponding with the weight. This feature permits relatively wide variations of load to be provided for without the necessity of modifying the spring-balancing mechanism and without positively locking the structure or interfering with its free manual movement. This use of a brake member, whose frictional engagement, between two of the elements of the support, varies in proportion to varying loads which may be placed 'upon the article-carrying device, is a wholly new feature in this class of apparatus and is not dependent upon the particular form of the counterpqising mechanism nor upon the particular form or location of the frictional element itself.

Furthermore, it will be noted that in so fares relates to the specific embodiment of the invention in a telephone support, there are certain features of special advantage. The switch box or stem 34, is of sufficient length to act as a guard for the receiver when the latter is hung upon its hook 50,. and since this stem 34, is always maintained in a vertical position, the lower end of the receiver will, in any position of the support, be protected from coming in contact with a desk or other adjacent object, even when the arm 25, is swung into a horizontal positionj. The stem 34, and subjaent parts,

thus act as. a substantially complete shield for the receiverwhen in position upon the hook.

It will also be seen that the mouth piece of the transmitter is accessible throughout a range of horizontal rotative adjustment corresponding in extent to substantially an entire circle, and at the same time it will, in such rotation, clear the adjacent parts and thus avoid xdisturbance of the receiver. This arrangement is' greatly superior to one in which the entire stem, including, the receiver, and its hook, are rotatively mounted-since there is alwaysedanger of injury to or displacement of the receiver in such case.

cs1. use the term article carnying' device in my claims as comprehending not only the specific form o socket which I- have indicated at 33, but anyelement which is adapted to receive and properly hold the desired article. I also use the term base as com- 1, in the drawings, but any means of mounting a support, as a whole, either by attachment to a fixed surface or otherwise.

The terms standard and link are employed to conveniently designate the two members whose relative longitudinal motion contributes both to the self balancing action and to the maintenance of the article I carrying device in definite relation to the horizontal.

It is obvious, however, that such designation is merely descriptive, since the member which I have termed the link might with equal propriety be considered as the standard.

The characteristic. features of these elements are that only onethereof is pivotally attached at both ends, while the other is free at one'end but in operative relation to a cam, thus differing substantially from the class of so called parallel motion devices, which comprise four points of pivotal attachment.

I ciaimz- 1. In a support, the combination with a base and a cam supported thereby; of an article carrying device and a pair of elongated members pivotally attached thereto, one of said members being also plvotally attached at a fixed 'point in juxtaposition to said cam, the other member being mounted to swing in operative relation to said cam.

2. In a support,'the combination with a base of a laterally projecting earn; a standard mounted to swing in the plane of said cam; an article-carrying device, pivot- -ally connected to said standard; and, a link connected at one end withsaid article-carrying device and at the other end at a fixed point in juxtaposition to said cam.

3. In a support, the combination with a base; of a lat-' erally projecting cam; a standard mounted to swing in the plane of said cam; an article-carrying device, pivotally connected to said standard; a link connected at one end with said article-carrying device and at the other end at a fixed point in juxtaposition to said cam; and, a frictional member arranged bgtween the surface of said cam and the end of said standard.

4. In a support, the combination with a base; of a laterally projecting cam; a standard mounted to swing in the plane of said cam; an article-carrying device, pivotally connected to said standard; a link connected at' one .end with said article'carryingdevlce and 'at the other end at a fixed point in juxtaposition to said cam; a frictional member arranged between the surface of said cam and the end of said standard; and a spring, housed in the standard, operatively engaging said linkand said standard and adapted to resist relative movement thereof.

5. In a support, the combination, with a base, of a standard mounted to swing 'with relation thereto; an articIe-cprrying device pivoted to said standard; a link carried by saidstandard and pi-votally connected to said article-carryln'g device; and a cam operatively arranged to shift said standard with relation to said link during swinging motion, whereby the article-carrying device is maintained in a predetermined position during said swinging motion.

6. In a support, the combination, with a base, of a standard mounted to swing with: relation thereto; an artlclecarrying device pivoted to said standard; a link carin a predetermined direction. prehending not merely the specific form indicated at ried by said standard and pivotally connected to said artide-carrying device; a cam operatively arranged to shift said standard with relation to said link during swinging motion; and means for yieldingly and increasingly resisting said relative motion during the swing of said standard 7. In a support, the combination with a base; of a cam mounted to rotate thereon and having its operative sur- 'tive surface of said cam; an'article-carrying device pivotally connected to said standard; and a link plvotally connected to said article-carrying device and at a fixed point in juxtaposition to said cam.

8. In a support, the combination with a base; of a cam mounted to rotate thereon and having its operative surface arranged in a plane. coincident with the axis of rotatlon' a standard adapted to frictlonally engage the operative surface of said cam; an article-carrying device pivotally connected to saidstandard; a link pivotally connected to said article-carrying device and at a fixed point in juxtaposition to said .cam; and a spring housed in the standard and adapted to resist relative motion between said link and said standard.

9. The combination with a pair of cams having their operative surfaces parallel; of projecting flanges arranged along said operatlve surfaces; :1 shoe adapted to embrace said flanges; a link. pivotally connected at a point ln'juxtaposition to said cams and extending through said shoe; a pivotaily movable standard adapted to bear upon said shoe; and'an artlcle'carrying device pivotally connected with said link and said standard.

10. The combination with a base; of an article-carrying device; a pair of elongated swinging members arranged between the base and the article-carrying device; a pivotal connection, at each end of one of said elongated members, with said article-carrying device and said base respectively; a pivotal connection at one end of the other elongated member; a cam arranged in operative relation to the other end of said last mentioned member and a spring resisting longitudinal movement of one of said members with relation to the other.

11. In an adjustable support, comprising a base and a plurality of elongated members swinging with relation to said base, one of said members being adapted for longitudinal movement with relation to the other, the combination with said members respectively; of pivotal connections at each end of one member and a pivotal connection at one end only of the other member; and means operatlvely connected to the non-pivoted end of said last mentioned member for shifting one of said members longitudinally with relation to the other, whereby the relative motion for malntaining said article-carrying device in a predetermined position during the swing of said support is efiected about a single fixed pivot.

12. In a support, the combination with a base; of a standard mounted to swing with relation thereto; spring means to counterpoise the downward swing of the standard; an article-carrying device carried by said standard; means for maintaining the article-carrying device in a predetermined, position, throughoutthe swinging range ofsaid standard; and a frictional brake member adapted to be directly actuated by the thrust of the load whereby frictional engagement of said brake member is automatically varied in proportion to varying loads upon-said artide-carrying device, while manual movement of the standard is permitted during such frictional engagement. 

